This invention, in one aspect, relates to a composition comprising a fluorochemical compound useful for treating leather, textiles, and cellulosic materials. In another aspect, the invention relates to a method for treating these materials with the composition. In a third aspect, this invention relates to leather, textiles and cellulosic materials treated with the composition.
Leather has a combination of properties which has long made it useful and desirable for many applications, e.g. footwear, garments, and upholstery, requiring protection, comfort, durability, and esthetics. Such properties include long term flexibility, toughness, breathability, insulation, conformability, soft feel, and luxurious appearance. However, due to its porous, fibrous structure, leather absorbs water and oil, and the consequent unsightly spotting and stains detract from its usefulness and appearance. There has been considerable effort expended to overcome these drawbacks of leather. See Kirk-Othmer, Encycl. of Chem. Tech., Vol. 22, 1970, John Wiley & Sons, p. 150, 151.
Leather has been frequently treated with various substances to impart greater water and oil repellancy. Because the desired result of such treatment may vary depending upon the user's expectation, it is much more practical for the ultimate consumer to apply the treating product rather than the manufacturer.
At present, products that are used by consumers to impart water and oil repellancy to leather include waxes, e.g, beeswax, carnauba wax, paraffin wax; greases, e.g., lanolin; oils, e.g., fish oil, mink oil, neat's-foot oil, silicones, e.g., dimethylpolysiloxane, silicone resins; and fluorochemicals, e.g., FC-326 Scotchgard.RTM. Brand Fabric Protector available from Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company, and FC-905 3M Brand Fluorochemical available from Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company.
The waxes, greases, oils, and silicones have been found to impart some degree of water and oil repellancy to leather; however, none of these are as effective as fluorochemicals in providing water and oil repellancy. Fluorochemicals, however, are somewhat less desirable to use than are waxes or oils, generally because certain of the solvents needed to apply fluorochemicals to leather are deleterious to leather or dyes that have been applied to the leather. Furthermore, unlike waxes or oils, presently available fluorochemical compounds are not known to condition or clean leather.
Although there are many commercially available fluorochemicals which will impart water and oil repellancy to textiles, they are generally applied from solutions wherein the solvent is a chlorinated hydrocarbon, e.g., trichloroethane. Many consumers find chlorinated hydrocarbons objectionable for both health and environmental reasons.